For The Waters Of All Estuaries Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

I have been thinking,
those times you are not here
are filled with thoughts
most all of which concern
the one that destiny has picked
to be my running mate
in what I now perceive as
the inevitable fate of one
who fought so many wars,
and who was bruised
humiliated and dismissed,
who pried the greedy hands
of the infatuated ones
away, ignored their tears,
their siren pleas and smiles.
There may have been,
so it is said by men of wise
and wily ways, the spark
or full-blown flames
of LOVE, bandied about
like tennisballs deluxe,
too often there was sanity
that had succumbed to lust,
had blinded human eyes
and bathed inside the mirror
of imagined, tranquil lakes
where waters still and clear
reflected what the eye
was keen to see and to behold.
Oh how we fool our souls,
we listen to cognition's song,
which, clearly mathematical,
serves up a brief analysis,
and maps the road ahead,
supported by the watchers
and the elders in the crowd.
The image rules in life,
benevolence speaks loud,
it nods its gratitude, it frowns
if we but stray a step or two
we simply must obey the laws,
all handed down, approved
and sealed to be the fate
that man must fight to keep,
lest chaos lead to anarchy
and God himself butt in
where the old Devil watches all
while wearing a contented grin.
So what about the heart, you say,
naive you are, and innocent my boy!
Man rose above the critters big and small
by power of his mind, not by his heart,
we would have perished long ago,
knee-deep in foul morass of wanton lust,
before the altar we must kneel
receive the blessings of one God
and fit inside a mould made in His name,
then go and make a home, and build a nest,
where fornication shall proceed but once
to sow the seed for a new life, to carry on
the name and all the tasks prescribed
meanwhile we toil and pray, fulfilling deeds
while ascertaining that we have no human needs,
'tis what we reap that has been sown
a million little fishes, quickly made and grown
to plunge head over tail into the cave
where they will battle and find victory, one brave
and agile soldier as he reaches home at last
he signals his success through chemistry
while God bestows on man a touch of celibacy.

I disagree, my vehemence knows not a single bound,
she spoke, her glacial eyes regarded mine,
and it was heaven as I listened to the sound
she came and kissed me and she tasted of sweet wine.
All past was wiped right then, though deep within my head
there grew resistance, and my hemispheres talked fools,
there would be anarchy and many would dropp dead
each life was sacred and each man must have his rules.
It was a whirlwind, though it blew and left them whole
though others tumbled and the screeching grew too loud,
there was consensus that a force had turned a mole
into an elephant; the sky became a cloud.
Have you, my learned friends been touched perhaps
by hands of love created only for your skin?
I have not met another man, nor younger chaps
that were content without the thought of going in
and playing games like making love and feeling well
to brag of conquering and dousing a bright flame
they never saw that those instructions came from Hell,
and no one noticed either blemishes or blame.
No, it can never be that science should prevail
where it is pheromones and more straight from the heart,
it must be clear that such attempts will surely fail
as unions joined by other hands will break apart.
I have no way of knowing why I have been picked
nor do I care, it is enough for me to be
in an embrace when all our molecules are licked
and where I marvel at the thought. It now is WE.
If love were only an illusion sent to earth
it would behoove mankind to make a substitute
I have been blessed to witness personally its birth
about all other things I promised to be mute.